Laura Bassett: White House Finds Way Around Hobby Lobby Birth Control Decision

The Obama administration on Friday issued its final rules for employers who morally object to covering birth control in their health insurance plans. The accommodation ensures that all employed women, unless they work for a place of worship, will still have their birth control covered at no cost to them, even if their employers refuse to cover it. Under the new rule, a closely held for-profit company that objects to covering contraception in its health plan can write a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services stating its objection.

HHS will then notify a third-party insurer of the company’s objection, and the insurer will provide birth control coverage to the company’s female employees at no additional cost to the company. “Women across the country should have access to preventive services, including contraception,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement. “At the same time, we recognize the deeply held views on these issues, and we are committed to securing women’s access to important preventive services at no additional cost under the Affordable Care Act, while respecting religious beliefs.”

Truly shows the pettiness and privilege of Fisher. She was not qualified, but because she’s white, the heavens must always grant her everything. At the end of the day, more whites benefited but she’s butthurt because 5 Black and Latino students were granted admission. The privilege is disgusting

Trust and believe President Obama is not going to be waiting years to fix this BS from the SCOTUS

Power plants will continue to able to emit unlimited mercury, arsenic, and other pollutants thanks to the Supreme Court, which on Monday invalidated the first-ever U.S. regulations to limit toxic heavy metal pollution from coal and oil-fired plants. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, commonly referred to as MATS. The EPA had been trying to implement a rule that cut down on toxic mercury pollution for more than two decades. But the Supreme Court majority opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, said the EPA acted unlawfully when it failed to consider how much the regulation would cost the power industry before deciding to craft the rule.

“EPA must consider cost — including cost of compliance — before deciding whether regulation is appropriate and necessary,” the opinion reads. “It will be up to the [EPA] to decide (as always, within the limits of reasonable interpretation) how to account for cost.” The decision doesn’t mean power plants will never be subject to regulations on toxic air pollutants. Instead, it means the EPA will have to go back to the drawing board, and find some mechanism to consider how much it will cost the power industry. Until another version of MATS is approved — a process that often takes years — power plants will have no limits on their emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, and other toxins. In other words, the rule is effectively delayed.